John O'Boyle/The Star-LedgerBartholomew McInerney pictured in this 2010 photo just before his sentencing, was granted a new trial today.

FREEHOLD — Once a renowned baseball coach in Monmouth County, Bart McInerney went on to disgrace and prison in 2010, convicted of preying on his teenage players for his own sexual gratification.

A judge sentenced him to 18 years, calling McInerney’s behavior an obsession that had fractured an entire community. With the sentence, his victims said they hoped to find closure.

Today, those wounds opened anew when a state appellate court invalidated McInerney’s conviction, saying the former coach deserved a new trial because the judge gave jurors improper and confusing instructions.

McInerney, 46, could be out on bail within days.

The decision came as blow to the family of Andrew Clark, 18, who committed suicide in 2008 after his interactions with McInerney, then the baseball coach at St. Rose High School in Belmar. McInerney and Clark lived near one another in Spring Lake Heights.

"The Clark family is devastated at the fact that this monster may be released from jail," said Raymond Gill, a lawyer who represents the family in a civil suit against McInerney, St. Rose and the Diocese of Trenton. "I respect the appellate division’s thinking, but I respectfully disagree with their conclusions."

At trial, McInerney was convicted of 10 counts of second-degree child endangerment for engaging his players in sexually explicit conversations, encouraging them to masturbate and pressuring them to provide him with detailed descriptions of those acts. In some cases, he asked them to videotape the acts and provide him with used condoms.

McInerney’s appeal hinged on the severity of the crime. His lawyer, Edward C. Bertucio, argued in court papers that second-degree child endangerment typically involves a parent or guardian. As a coach, McInerney didn’t fit into that category, Bertucio argued, contending third-degree child endangerment would have been more appropriate.

The three-judge appellate panel agreed. In its opinion, the panel said the trial judge, Anthony J. Mellaci Jr., did not adequately explain the nuances of the statute to jurors and, in effect, enlarged the group of people to whom the second-degree crime applies.

"The judge effectively directed the jurors that a school employee, even one without any responsibility for the care of the child, was included in the definition of parent or guardian along with those who have assumed responsibility for the care of a child," the judges wrote.

To avoid similar errors in the future, the panel urged a state Supreme Court committee to revise the written guidance it provides to judges for charging juries on second-degree child endangerment charges.

The difference between the degrees is a significant one.

Second-degree crimes carry terms of five to 10 years with a presumption of prison time. Crimes of the third degree may be punishable by three to five years behind bars, but there is a presumption the sentence will not involve prison.

McInerney has already served more than two years of his 18-year sentence.

Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Richard E. Incremona said his office will review the ruling in consultation with the state Attorney General’s Office before deciding how to proceed.

The prosecutor’s office could appeal to the state Supreme Court. It could also decided to retry McInerney on charges of third-degree endangerment.

Incremona said he was unsure of McInerney’s bail status. Gill, the lawyer representing the family of Andrew Clark, said he was told McInerney was likely to have a bail hearing Monday.

The case was a high-profile one in Monmouth County, where McInerney was widely known as a talented and winning coach who attracted players to St. Rose from all around. The team became a perennial power after he took over in 1994. In 2005, he won a state title.

He claimed at trial he did not intend to harm players with his sexual discussions and that he meant only to dissuade them from engaging in premarital sex. Months later, during his sentencing, he was repentant.

"There aren’t words in the English language (for) how bad I feel for what I have done and the lives I have affected," he said. "There’s no way that you could ever know how bad I feel."